Singapore’s Tripartite Committee on Employability of Older Workers (Tricom) has recommended that the government adopt a promotional approach towards raising the re-employment age from 65 to 67 years old.

Tricom also recommended that the government provide incentives to encourage companies to re-employ their older workers beyond the age of 65 in the interim, before the legislation kicks in. 

Under the Retirement and Re-employment Act (2012), employers must offer retirement age workers, who are healthy and have a satisfactory job performance record, the opportunity to extend their work contracts for at least one year. Employees who are Singapore Citizens of Permanent Residents are eligible for re-employment upon reaching the age of 62.

Tan Chuan-Jin, Minister for Manpower, accepted Tricom’s recommendations on behalf of the Government: “We thank the Tricom for working hard to reach a difficult consensus. Starting with promotion is not new. We are taking the same approach as when we first introduced the requirement for companies to re-employ workers [until] 65 in 2012.”

“We are allowing companies adequate time to adjust before legislating, and will provide incentives for employers who voluntarily re-employ older workers beyond 65 ahead of it being legislated. The employment rate for older workers has steadily increased over the years, from 57% in 2009 to 65% in 2013. Last year, 99% of private sector local employees who turned 62 were offered re-employment. With the labour market expected to remain tight, we encourage employers to retain older workers who can still contribute to the organisation,” he added.

In recent years, Singapore’s labour market has been marked by increasing skills shortages and a clampdown on the recruitment of foreign workers. In September 2013 the country implemented employment measures that require companies with more than 25 workers to advertise job vacancies to local residents for two weeks before they can apply to fill positions with foreign candidates.

In May, Singapore’s National Employers Federation (NEF) noted that an untapped pool of 375,000 women and older people could help ease the labour crunch if they could be enticed back to work through flexible work arrangements. According to the NEF, the challenge in accomplishing this lies, not in the absence of schemes that further job flexibility, but in the attitudes of employers.    

Diana Chia, Tricom member and President of the National Trades Union Congress, said: “The Labour Movement believes that the best way to help older workers provide better for retirement is to help those who can and want to continue working to do so. Our unions will work closely with unionised companies toward raising the re-employment age ceiling from 65 to 67 in a win-win manner ahead of legislation. In a tight labour market where the availability of foreign manpower will continue to be stringently managed, companies that retain and make full use of their existing manpower will enjoy an advantage over their competitors.”

Stephen Lee, Immediate Past President of the Singapore National Employers Federation added: “Employers have expressed concerns about legislating the re-employment of workers beyond the age of 65 too soon. In 2012, the law was introduced after five years of promotional effort and employers had been well prepared to manage this three-year obligation of re-employing workers from the age of 62 up to the age of 65… Employers need to make the effort where necessary to restructure their wage system or to redesign jobs so that they can fulfil their extended re-employment obligations from age 62 to 67.”

Tricom was set up in 2005 to recommend measures to enhance the employability of older workers. It aims to shape the perceptions and mind-sets of employers and the public positively towards the employment of older workers.